1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention disclosed herein relates to beverage cup carriers made preferably of molded pulp or similar rigid materials for transporting beverages contained in generally any size containers. More particularly, the field of the present invention relates to disposable beverage carriers preferably composed of molded pulp capable of transporting up to four beverages contained in multiple size containers without assembly in a safe manner from tipping or spilling including a integral carrying handle ergonomically designed for enhanced safety and convenience to the user. The present invention relates to a beverage carrier disclosing a integral carrying handle from a unitary mold to accommodate carrying the beverage carrier from the top by means of the handle rather than having to carry from the side or balanced on the hand required in the prior art beverage carriers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Beverage cup carriers are well known in the prior art. Earlier known carriers where primarily composed of cardboard that usually required assembly by the user. These prior art carriers had the disadvantage of losing stability and rigidity making them more subject to spilling or tipping of the beverage. Prior art carriers do disclose a carrying handle as an integral component, however they are composed of cardboard and have the same disadvantages.
More relevant prior art known to the applicant is the unitary molded pulp containers disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,317 (Crabtree), U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,006 (Bixler), U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,008 (Veilleux) which disclose this use of a unitary container capable of accommodating various sizes of beverage containers and providing enhanced stability and safety from tipping or spilling. However, none of these known beverage carriers composed of molded pulp or like plastic materials contain an ergonomically shaped handle as an integral component of the carrier for enhanced safety and convenience to the user. It is an advantage of the present invention, both from a safety point of view and convenience to have the capability of carrying safely up to four beverage containers with a single hand. These prior art carriers require two hands to safely carrier four filled beverage containers and are clumsy in handling when trying to enter or exit a vehicle. The enhanced safety and convenience is provided by the unitary mold and ergonomic handle centered midline in communication with annular ribs to provide the necessary resiliency to support carrying from the top a plurality of filled beverage containers.